Team New Jersey Unveils Durable Concrete ENJOY House for the 2011 Solar Decathlon

The 2011 Solar Decathlon is fast approaching, and Team New Jersey has unveiled their ENJOY House in Newark -- a solar house made from precast concrete walls and an inverted hip roof. The project is designed to be low-cost, easy to erect, and self-sufficient. The collaboration between Rutgers, The State University (RU) of New Jersey and NJIT is inspired to sit beach side. The sturdy house has an open, universal floor plan that wraps an inner box which houses all the technology. The design is anything but traditional, with a unusual roof that sweep upwards to create a shady porch while holding up a 8.2kW PV array and funneling rainwater for domestic use. By the looks of things, the house is ready to throw its weight around - read on to learn more.

Although the home is made to sit comfortably on the beach, a parking lot will have to suffice for now. Two of the home’s most striking features are its materials and its size. The concrete slabs hold all the necessary mechanical runs inside the wall, so the team can ship the exterior walls flat packed to any site and set up quickly around the core mechanical room, bathroom, and storage. The team was able to design a larger house, which at 940 square feet gives more allowances for developing the floor plan. Using the principles of universal design, the one bedroom-home can accommodate handicapped residents as well as the throngs of upcoming visitors in late September.

The crisp inverted hip roof allows for tall shaded windows, that bring lots of light into the rooms while maintaining privacy. The home’s pixilated façade design is carried into the living room’s Mondrian-esque shelving. The team hopes to prove that the thermal dynamics of the concrete prefab system will hold its own against exotic wall technologies developed all over the world, and they’re aiming to lead the pack at this year’s Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington DC.